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(12/10/99 10:00am)
But James M. Wilson and his team maintain that they are not responsible for the death of 18-year-old Jesse Gelsinger. BETHESDA, Md. -- Facing serious allegations regarding a controversial gene-therapy experiment that ended in the death of an 18-year-old test subject, Penn researchers used a specially convened conference at the National Institutes of Health to defend their research. But the research team for the first time admitted some lapses and publicly apologized for failing to properly communicate with regulators. Yet they vigorously defended including Jesse Gelsinger in the study -- which in September led to the nation's first-known death caused by the promising but still unproven gene-therapy technology. Officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration alleged earlier this week that the Penn researchers seriously violated several research protocols during the experiment. Specifically, the regulators accused the research team of withholding information on two serious incidents which preceded Gelsinger's death; allowing the Tucson, Ariz., native to participate in the study despite being too ill; and removing language from their consent form that would have alerted potential subjects to the deaths of animals that underwent similar treatment. Penn's researchers and representatives from the FDA, the agency that oversees the controversial experiment, described their initial findings in separate and uncontentious presentations before NIH's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. More than 400 researchers, patients and industry representatives -- as well as members of the national press corps -- showed up for the second day of the three-day meeting, forcing the RAC to move from a conference room to a large auditorium on the NIH campus. James M. Wilson, the director of Penn's Institute of Human Gene Therapy and the lead researcher for the study, said human error on the part of his team was not responsible for Gelsinger's death. Gelsinger died just days after he was injected with a high dose of genes aimed at finding a cure to ornithine transcarbamylase -- or OTC, a disease that prevents the body from properly digesting ammonia. Penn researcher Steven Raper said tests determined that Gelsinger died of "intractable" Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome after experiencing multiple organ failure. The researchers admitted they should have notified the FDA sooner than they did when two earlier test subjects became very sick after receiving lower doses of the gene therapy, but said there was no way of predicting Gelsinger's response to the treatment. "At no time did we, during or prior to this trial, expect to see what we saw in Jesse Gelsinger," Wilson said. Much of each team's discussion yesterday centered around FDA "stopping rules" -- which require researchers to suspend testing and to contact the FDA if certain situations arise. According to FDA official Tom Eckerman, Penn researchers acted properly in contacting his agency until the fourth group of tests. The study was designed so that the dosage would increase with each progressive level so that if one group responded positively to the treatment, a higher level of the potentially harmful therapy would not have to be used. During the fourth series of treatments, the researchers called the FDA after the first two patients displayed high-level symptoms. But after the next two subjects had significant reactions, Eckerman said the team did not immediately contact the agency. Instead, researchers submitted data for those patients two months later and went ahead to the next dosage level without consulting with the FDA, Eckerman explained. That notification was still given months before Gelsinger received his fatal treatment, according to Penn officials. Gelsinger, the 18th and final patient, was in the sixth set of tests. Raper also argued that Gelsinger was an appropriate test subject, even though the teenager's ammonia levels were higher than the maximum allowed just before treatment. Raper said they were in the necessary range months earlier when Gelsinger entered the study -- which is what the Penn researchers said the regulations require. FDA representatives also reported that Gelsinger received his treatment as the second patient in his series, even though the researchers did not request permission to differ from the protocol requiring that male subjects be third. Both reports raised more questions than they answered about the still-emerging field of gene therapy. "Our hope is we've started a dialogue," Wilson said. RAC members, Penn researchers and FDA officials are using the meeting as an opportunity to make recommendations for further research as well as to examine Gelsinger's death. "We recognize truly the importance of this area," said Kathryn Zoon, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. A RAC working group convened on Wednesday and is expected to make recommendations today calling for tighter federal oversight of gene-therapy experiments. Many of the conference participants expressed hope that scientists will work together to increase standardization between different experiments in order to make data from gene-therapy tests more easily examined and shared. Following Gelsinger's publicized death, several unreported serious or fatal gene-therapy incidents have emerged from other studies. Jesse Gelsinger's father, Paul, who blames the FDA for not overseeing the experiment properly, flew in from Arizona for the conference and spoke passionately about how the death of his son can be transformed into something positive for sufferers of OTC. "We need to keep going that way, people," he said.
(06/11/98 9:00am)
Fifty-thousand needy inner-city children across the country are suddenly extremely fortunate. Thanks to a $200 million fund set up by a few wealthy businessmen, these children will be given vouchers to attend private schools. On the surface, this appears to be a great deal. It certainly is for the children who will benefit; given the chance at a better education, many of them will probably go on to college and solid jobs. But while 50,000 students reap the rewards, the rest of America's poor children languish in resource-starved schools. Instead of focusing on private schools as the solution to the plight of public education, government and foundations should seek out ways to improve city schools and thereby benefit all of the students who attend them. The same $200 million that will be spent on vouchers could be dedicated as grants to fund innovative programs and teacher training that would help students for years and years. Or the money could be donated to a cash-strapped school system struggling to reform. Like Philadelphia. Desperately-needed school reform has consistently failed because, among other reasons, of a shortage of funds. In fact, the situation here became so desperate that Superintendent of Schools David Hornbeck threatened to close schools next March because he would rather shut down than further slash his already-depleted budget. And though the crisis appears to be temporarily over thanks to loans secured by two Philadelphia banks, the ultimate problem remains: Without more money and innovative reform, schools will be unable to prepare children for careers and life in an ever-changing world. So where's the money? Some of it is in Harrisburg, where voucher advocates sitting on budget surpluses are holding Philadelphia's poorest children hostage. Thanks to state spending formulas that favor non-urban areas, Philadelphia is forced to spend approximately $2,000 less per student each year than the surrounding suburbs. This despite the fact that cities face tremendous challenges in educating students who often enter schools unprepared and are burdened by a multitude of societal factors. Republican Governor Tom Ridge and state lawmakers from both parties appear to be waiting for Philadelphia's School District to run out of money so they can step in with a voucher program that would take children -- and money -- out of the public schools and send them into private and parochial education. Undoubtedly, a few students would benefit from vouchers, but the public school system and the children remaining in it would lose out. Public schools should not be the education of last resort, and they will not be able to do to their job unless they are treated as the vital houses of learning that they are. Of course, improving public schools means more than just increasing funds. Schools need to find a way of teaching the most difficult-to-reach students and improving parents' participation in their children's education. One way of working toward this goal is through partnerships with other key city institutions. In terms of funding, Philadelphia has been remarkably successful in receiving grants and corporate support. Urban universities are another crucial piece of the puzzle. Close ties between a college and public schools benefit everyone -- from the children who are exposed to new worlds of information and different types of people to the college students who gain incredible experiences and real-world education to professors and researchers who can expand their work into the communities. And just as inner-city schools need help from universities, universities seeking to exist in stable communities know that a good neighborhood requires quality schools. Universities and foundations also pioneer teaching methods. For example, Johns Hopkins University offers grants to city schools -- including some in Philadelphia -- and comes in with education experts to help with reform. Likewise, an enormous grant from the Annenberg Foundation has helped Philadelphia introduce new and different programs. The point is that we must not give up on public education. Through cooperation between states, cities, corporations, universities and foundations, America can work through its education crisis. We have to. Just consider the price of failure.
(04/07/98 9:00am)
and Maureen Tkacik A Graduate School of Fine Arts professor suffered serious wounds to his head after an unidentified man repeatedly beat him with a pistol -- accidentally discharging it at one point -- during an attempted mugging near campus early yesterday morning, police said. Assistant Fine Arts Dean Lindsay Falck, 64, was getting out of his Geo Metro outside his house on the 200 block of South St. Marks Square when he was attacked, University Police Det. Gary Heller said. The assailant, who was hiding inside a car and approached Falck from behind, never demanded anything from the architecture professor, who had been returning home from a studio in Meyerson Hall. Falck, who said he thought in the dim lighting that the chrome pistol was a knife, grabbed the man's wrists, struggling for a few moments before the man knocked him to the ground and began beating him over the head with the handle of the gun. After the gun discharged, the assailant -- presumably panicking -- ran back to his car and fled west on Walnut Street, Falck said. Doctors at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's emergency room, where Falck's wife rushed him after the incident, discovered gunpowder burns on Falck's shirt collar. "I was really lucky. That guy could have shot me," Falck said last night after receiving 37 stitches. "I vowed I would never retaliate if I was mugged, [but] he never asked for my wallet or anything." Despite his wounds, which included one laceration "right down to the skull," Falck, a native South African who has lived in University City for 11 years, was not fazed by the assault. "I've never been paranoid," he said. "I've seen a lot of violence in Cape Town." By contrast, Falck called University City "one of the best places in the world" to live. He said he felt security in the area had "improved enormously" since the murder of University biochemist Vladimir Sled -- a personal friend -- on the 4300 block of Larchwood Avenue in October 1996. Many residents of Falck's block professed their loyalty to the normally peaceful street while repeating the customary calls for increased police patrols. "This is a quiet street and nothing happens," said Meredith Jacob, a student at the nearby Restaurant School. But Jacob, who witnessed the incident from her window, added that she is "going to be scared to come out of my house." Several others focused instead on more positive occurrences -- like a block-party planning meeting earlier in the evening that drew 15 residents of the street.
(03/02/98 10:00am)
A College senior was among those injured in the shootings, which occurred after a basketball tournament at the Palestra. and Maureen Tkacik One person was killed and three others -- including a University student -- were wounded in related on- campus shootings following the Philadelphia Public League high school boys basketball championship yesterday afternoon. The incidents all occurred on 33rd Street north of the Palestra at about 4:10 p.m. Witnesses described hearing a series of gunshots that sounded like "fireworks" shortly after the tournament ended and throngs of fans began leaving the building and filling the street. According to witnesses and police, the incidents were the result of a drive-by shooting in which a suspect inside a car fired an automatic or semi-automatic gun at least 15 times before fleeing west on Walnut Street. Several police officers at the scene said that they suspect the shootings were related to a fistfight between two fans inside the building during halftime of the game. After the shootings, police stopped at least four people for possessing weapons. It is unclear if any of the people questioned were directly related to the incidents, or whether they were arrested as suspects. A 22-year-old man was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after being shot in the back, according to HUP and University Police officials. A HUP spokesperson refused to release the victim's name. The Penn student wounded in the shooting, College senior John La Bombard, is being treated for a gunshot wound to his left leg and remained hospitalized in stable condition as of 12:45 a.m. today, according to a spokesperson for Allegheny University Hospitals-Hahnemann in Center City. La Bombard, 21, was working on a project for a Design of the Environment class inside the Blauhaus -- the blue, shed-like Fine Arts building at 33rd and Chestnut streets -- when a stray gunshot went right through the wooden wall and hit him in the left leg, police and witnesses said. A woman who was taken to HUP after being shot in the elbow remained in fair condition as of last night. Her name and age were not immediately available. According to witnesses, the woman was also an innocent bystander. The fourth victim, a 19-year-old West Philadelphia man, was treated in the emergency room of Jefferson University Hospital in Center City after receiving what a hospital spokesperson called a "small gunshot wound to the back." The spokesperson would not identify the victim, who was released at about 7:30 p.m. The basketball championship, which attracted about 3,700 spectators, has been the scene of numerous security problems in the past. Yesterday's shootings raise doubts as to whether Penn will continue to host the tournament. University spokesperson Ken Wildes said the University has not yet decided whether it will host the event next year. This is the tournament's second consecutive year at the Palestra. Before that, the championship was held for several years at the nearby Civic Center. Last year, gunfire following the game sent people "fleeing everywhere," University Police Capt. John Richardson said at the time. No one was injured in the incident. At yesterday's and last year's games, security was tight in and around the Palestra. Ten University Police officers, 40 officers from the School District of Philadelphia and 60 security guards were on hand. An additional six to eight Philadelphia Police vehicles were patrolling outside, and all fans had to pass through metal detectors. Detectives from the Philadelphia Homicide unit are investigating yesterday's incidents. Information on the specific shootings was not immediately available, but a Homicide detective said yesterday that the unit was in the midst of interviewing "about 60 witnesses" in an effort to "piece together" the sequence of events. Franklin Learning Center student Arkeda Hall, 14, who attended the game, in which Benjamin Franklin High School defeated Franklin Learning Center 61-56 to clinch the championship, said she believed the gunshots were related to a fight that broke out inside the Palestra at about 3 p.m. during halftime. Hall said a small boy received cuts when he was "trampled" during the altercation. Shortly afterward, police at the event told the individuals who were fighting to leave the Palestra, witnesses said. Wharton senior Erica Meyers, who was inside the Blauhaus at the time of the shooting, described the scene as one of "chaos and confusion" after the shots rang out. She said she heard "a couple of shots really quickly," followed a few seconds later by "a succession of maybe 10 or 12 shots." Police arriving at the scene told the students in the Blauhaus to move to a windowless room in the back of the building so they wouldn't be hit by stray bullets, several witnesses said. University Police officials were not immediately available to comment on what happened inside the Blauhaus. Daily Pennsylvanian staff writers Ben Geldon and Shirley Zilberstein contributed to this article.
(02/11/98 10:00am)
The issue of exactly what constitutes 'on-campus' crime is still the subject of national debate. Although an extensive federal investigation upheld the University's interpretation of crime reporting laws, Penn officials and some of the University's most outspoken critics agree that the current system's definition of "on campus" may not realistically describe crime in areas students commonly frequent. The U.S. Department of Education issued its report to the University last Friday after a nearly year-long review of Penn's 1994-96 crime statistics. The University made the report public Monday. Investigators concluded that, contrary to suggestions in a 1996 Philadelphia Inquirer article, Penn did not engage in a systematic effort to cover up crime that occurred in the area patrolled by University Police. But the report also listed six violations the University committed -- including omitting an alleged 1994 on-campus rape from its statistics. The incident is currently the subject of a lawsuit. Critics of the University's crime-reporting techniques blasted the DOE conclusions, but acknowledged that Penn may have been following the letter -- if not the spirit -- of the law. "I'm forced to concede that that probably is the letter of the law, and we probably have to do something about that," said Daniel Carter, vice president of Security on Campus Inc., the victims-rights group that asked the DOE to audit Penn's statistics. Federal law currently states that any "property owned or controlled by an institution within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area and used by the institution in direct support of, or in a manner related to, the institution's educational purposes" is to be considered on campus. But it is unclear whether such a definition can suffice for an urban university like Penn, which contains areas that are not clearly on or off campus. More isolated, rural institutions tend to be more clearly demarcated from the outside world. For example, federal law considers sidewalks in front of University buildings on campus. Public roads, by contrast, are off campus. Therefore, a student walking across the street from Williams Hall at 36th and Spruce streets to the Quadrangle's lower entrance would be off campus while on the asphalt of Spruce Street, but on campus at all other times. Beyond the street-sidewalk issue, administrators wonder about how to best define what constitutes the campus of a school such as Penn. "We've been struggling with this all year," University President Judith Rodin said earlier this week. "Is [the border] 41st Street? Is it 40th Street?" And Managing Director of Public Safety Tom Seamon explained that "we need a clear definition of the geographical reporting area." "It may be that there can't be one standard," he said. "It may be that there has to be one for urban and one for suburban campuses." Neither Seamon nor Rodin -- nor any other University official or independent source contacted -- could easily define what the boundary for an urban campus should be. "Our whole premise [that there is a simple border] may be flawed," Seamon said. Rodin suggested that a more reasonable way to report crime may be to divide the report into separate categories, such as "University-owned on campus," "University-owned off campus" and "geographical region around the University but not owned by it." Even if Penn officials could find a more urban-based reporting technique, attempting to use it to satisfy federal regulations would make it impossible to compare different universities. "If you have a different standard for every university, you're in the same place you were before you had regulations," Seamon noted. Police officials also indicated that they feel they are being unfairly criticized for patrolling an area that goes beyond campus to protect students and neighborhood residents. University Police patrol the area from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street. "[The department] gets criticized for projecting out into the community, which I think is what students and parents and faculty want," Seamon said. Howard Clery -- who founded the King of Prussia, Pa.-based Security on Campus Inc. after his daughter was brutally raped, tortured and murdered in her Lehigh University dormitory room in 1986 -- said Penn and other universities are "guilty of aiding and abetting crime through their negligent actions." Clery criticized the University for not enforcing alcohol and narcotics laws. He said Penn should include statistics from its entire patrol area in addition to on-campus crime. "You can always [put an] asterisk and say you had 181 [robberies] in the vicinity and 18 on campus if you want to define it that way," he said. "The purpose of the law is not a Talmudic interpretation." A bill that may expand universities' crime-reporting responsibilities is scheduled to come before the U.S. House of Representatives sometime this spring. Clery supports the bill, H.R. 715. If passed, the law would require all campus officials who know of crimes to report them to the government, meaning that athletic coaches and rape crisis center administrators, in addition to police, would have reporting duties. H.R. 715 would also require schools to report "incidents" instead of "arrests" -- meaning that crimes handled without a formal arrest would still be included. Some experts warn, however, that the change would mask crime statistics. For example, the arrest of 50 students at once for a liquor violation may be logged as one incident. The bill would add new categories to the crime report -- larceny, arson, simple assault and vandalism -- and subdivide the murder category into "murder or nonnegligent manslaughter" and "negligent manslaughter." H.R. 715 also contains provisions that would drastically change the University's internal judiciary system, a move opposed by some campus administrators.
(02/10/98 10:00am)
Ending a long debate, the government agreed with Penn's reporting rules but cited minor violations. After a nearly year-long review involving thousands of documents and numerous interviews with administrators, the U.S. Department of Education last week cleared the University of the biggest of its alleged crime-reporting violations -- that it had systematically attempted to cover up campus crime. But the report, issued to the University Friday, concluded that Penn committed six lesser violations, including failing to report an alleged on-campus rape in 1994 that is currently the subject of a lawsuit. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in November 1996 that only about 10 percent of the robberies reported to Penn Police in 1995 were designated as having occurred "on-campus" and were thus included in statistics distributed to the University community and prospective students under federal and state law. Following that article, the DOE began investigating whether Penn was following the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990. "I am of course pleased but not surprised in the conclusion," University President Judith Rodin said. "I think right now they are saying very clearly that Penn is [reporting crime] according to the federal guidelines." Rodin stressed that the University will "make the corrections [the DOE] recommended" on the six violations and that "their interests and our interests are aligned." The University has 30 days to tell the DOE the steps it has taken to remedy the problems. Penn is one of five universities the DOE has investigated or is currently investigating for such violations. Federal guidelines define an "on-campus" area as a "property owned or controlled by an institution within the same reasonably contiguous geographic area and used by the institution in direct support of, or in any manner related to, the institution's educational purpose." Reporting crime at urban universities is often difficult because of the lack of defined boundaries between what is on campus and what is not. Rodin said the distinctions between urban schools and more defined rural campuses make it impossible to compare "apples to apples." DOE investigators examined a printout of the 1995 robberies -- along with other data from 1994 to 1996 -- and determined that the University was in full compliance with federal guidelines for the 204 incidents. These charges were the most serious that the DOE examined, as they called into question the University's entire crime-reporting procedure. Only a limited amount of the University Police's patrol area -- which extends from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street -- counts as "on campus." Any criticism by the DOE could have made Penn appear to be more dangerous than the on-campus statistics may indicate. Instead, the DOE report found only six areas of violations unrelated to the definition of "on campus." Two of the violations noted by the DOE report accused the University of not reporting specific incidents. Although the University initially reported that no rapes occurred on campus in 1994, the DOE said handwritten notes from 1994 by Maureen Rush -- then director of Victim Support and Special Services -- indicate that a rape was reported in a Penn dormitory on November 18, 1994. Rush, now the University's director of police operations, and the University are defendants in a February 1997 lawsuit filed by the alleged rape victim accusing the University of failing to protect her and not including the incident in its annual reports. University officials declined to discuss the alleged incident. The case may be called to trial in June in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. According to the DOE report, "the University decided during the summer 1997 that the reported November 18, 1994 incident should have been included in the 1994 crime statistics." But the statistics -- which tally reported incidents and not proven crimes -- were not altered and redistributed by September 1997. Rodin said Penn had not wanted to make any changes in its policies during the probe, noting that "we didn't think we should do anything before [the DOE] findings." A recent copy of the statistics Penn submitted to the state and federal governments says one "forcible rape" incident was reported in 1994. An asterisk indicates that "this figure represents a change in the previously reported number." Jack Feinberg, the attorney for the plaintiff in the case, said he would present the information to the jury to demonstrate that Penn "doesn't follow the rules and regulations and do the right thing." But the DOE findings do not prove a "causal relationship" between Penn's failure to report the alleged crime and the "wrong done" to the plaintiff, Feinberg said. The plaintiff transferred out of the University after the incident. The accused rapist, a current Penn student, is also a defendant in the suit. The DOE report also cited the University for not listing eight student alcohol violations handed out by the Pennsylvania State Police's Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement during Spring Fling in 1996. Seamon said the issue stems from "administrative error" between the University and the LCE, and that he is now reviewing the LCE citations. And Rodin noted that "there's still quite a debate" nationally over whether citations such as liquor violations should be considered arrests at all. In his interviews with DOE investigators, Seamon said a citation should count as an arrest, according to the report. The DOE also told the University that it failed to "complete separate statistics for separate campuses" and "include statistics for all campus locations." Because the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill section and the Veterinary School's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., are "not reasonably contiguous to the main campus," the review said their statistics should be listed separately. And crime at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which is located at 34th and Spruce streets, must be included because of the building's location and its use as an educational facility, the DOE said. Rodin questioned the necessity of including crime at HUP, which she said would "certainly skew the data" upward. The DOE also accused the University of failing to adequately notify all prospective and current students of the Campus Security Report's availability. Although University spokesperson Ken Wildes said Penn mailed out 73,000 letters telling prospective students of the statistics' availability and 15,000 brochures with the statistics themselves, the DOE findings indicated that the information should be included with the University's applications for admission. Also, Penn makes the crime statistics available on its Web site. But the DOE said finding the information requires too much "initiative" on the part of students. Instead, the DOE report indicated that the University must mail each student a copy of the statistics every year. The DOE report also criticized the University for failing to include hate-crime statistics in its listings. But because there were no such incidents in any of the crime categories the University has to report, solving this problem would simply require stating that the number of such cases was zero for each year, Rodin said.
(12/11/97 10:00am)
The U.S. Supreme Court threw another log on the fiery debate over opening universities' disciplinary records by letting stand an Ohio ruling forcing a school to provide detailed information on internal judicial proceedings to its student newspaper. In a decision last Monday, the court without comment chose not to hear an appeal by Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, in a case over privacy requirements for disciplinary records. As a result, the university will have to divulge records containing information on the location and nature of incidents handled by the school's internal judicial system. Other details, such as punishments handed out and the age and gender of the victims and assailants, will also be made public. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act -- known as the "Buckley Amendment" -- is the federal law that keeps "education records" confidential, traditionally protecting disciplinary records from being publicly available. Because the case is based on Ohio law, it will not directly affect universities in other states. Several legal experts, however, said the Supreme Court decision still sets a precedent. "Someone would probably cite this and say the Supreme Court has not taken issue" with the Ohio court decision, according to Daniel Carter, vice president of Security on Campus Inc. The King of Prussia, Pa.-based group has been fighting to open school disciplinary records. Miami University's student newspaper, The Miami Student, touched off the legal battle in 1996 when it asked to see the school's disciplinary records -- but not students' names or other identifying information. Newspaper editors said a state open-records law mandates that universities open their disciplinary records to the public. In a July 1997 ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court sided with the newspaper and rejected the university's argument that the records were educational and thus protected by federal law. Michele Goldfarb, who oversees Penn's student disciplinary system, criticized the Supreme Court decision, but said the ruling does not mean that the issue has been settled. Miami University officials face the conflicting pressures of a court decision ordering them to release confidential records and a federal law saying the records are educational and thus must be kept confidential, Goldfarb said. Goldfarb also stressed the difficulty of maintaining students' privacy -- and universities' internal disciplinary processes -- while at the same time demonstrating an understanding for "all the very real interests that are involved." "I think we need to put our collective heads together and think about under what circumstances, if any, disclosure of disciplinary records is supportable," Goldfarb wrote in a recent e-mail to disciplinary officers at other universities. Ohio is not the first state to tackle the issue of students' privacy versus the community's right to know. In a 1993 case, Georgia's Supreme Court ruled that disciplinary records and hearings at the University of Georgia must be available to the public. In an interview last month, University of Georgia Office of Judicial Programs Director Peter Brown said the ruling has had a negative impact on his office. "I think it's had a chilling effect on witnesses wanting to come forward to testify," Brown said. "And in major cases, more time and energy is spent trying to deal with the media atmosphere that becomes almost circus-like." The U.S. Congress will also tackle the issue when it convenes next month. A bill before the House of Representatives would open schools' internal disciplinary processes.
(12/11/97 10:00am)
A man and woman kidnapped a male University student at gunpoint early Sunday morning and drove him a few blocks from campus to a MAC machine, forcing him to withdraw $380 from his account before releasing him, police said. The student was not injured in the incident, which lasted about 10 minutes, according to police. The incident began Sunday at 1:16 a.m., when the student heard a car come to a "screeching stop" near him as he walked near the intersection of 38th and Walnut streets, according to University Police Det. Commander Tom King. A man wielding a black revolver then got out of the maroon Ford Taurus and demanded the student's money, police said. After the student said he didn't have any cash, the robber asked for his credit cards, at which point the student surrendered his MAC card, King explained. Police said the man then forced the student into the car and drove him to an unspecified local MAC machine. The student's card didn't work at that machine, however, forcing the perpetrators to drive him to another MAC machine at 32nd and Market streets, according to police. This time the card worked. The student withdrew $380 in cash and handed it to the robbers, who fled from the scene, police said. Detectives investigating the incident for the Philadelphia Police Department's Southwest Detectives bureau were unavailable for comment Tuesday. In an unrelated incident December 3, a man robbed a female University student at knifepoint in a driveway on the 4100 block of Spruce Street, according to King. After the perpetrator forced the woman into the driveway, he pulled out a knife and demanded her money. The suspect fled east on Spruce Street after the student handed over $5 in cash, police said. The woman was not injured in the incident, and police have yet to arrest a suspect. The two robberies bring the total number of such incidents within the University Police jurisdiction to approximately 45 for the fall semester. The kidnapping incident marks the 23rd robbery at gunpoint this semester within University Police jurisdiction, which runs from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street. On- and off-campus robberies -- including robberies at gunpoint -- dropped sharply this semester compared to the same time last year, according to police statistics.
(12/11/97 10:00am)
A witness and Sofield's attorney rejected the internal probe's findings. Police officers did not use excessive force when they arrested College freshman Bill Sofield inside the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house October 30, according to the results of a 1 1/2-month internal investigation. "There was no improper behavior by police," Managing Director of Public Safety Tom Seamon said. The probe began after witnesses said police beat Sofield, 18, while arresting him for disorderly conduct after a string of bloody assaults on police near the FIJI house on Locust Walk. Sofield was not responsible for any of the assaults on police. Police officers "struck [Sofield] in the body several times" and then forced him to the floor to handcuff him, Seamon said. But he explained that the response was justified because Sofield -- a 5'11", 190-pound lacrosse player who police said was "extremely intoxicated" -- resisted arrest. Sofield's attorney, Walter Phillips, denied that his client was drunk. Although Sofield didn't use force against the officers, Seamon said he "did not want to go willingly? [and] tried to leave the room to evade arrest," in addition to resisting efforts to handcuff him. "It is extremely difficult to handcuff a suspect who does not want to be handcuffed," Seamon added. In written statements sent to University officials in early November, several FIJI brothers accused the officers, who were from numerous area police forces, of beating Sofield. Sofield never resisted arrest, the witnesses claimed. Color photographs provided by Phillips show welts on Sofield's lower back and elbow, as well as two closed black eyes. The injuries to Sofield's back and elbow were probably caused when the student was punched by officers trying to handcuff him, police said. But the black eyes were not caused by blows to Sofield's face, according to witnesses who said officers never punched him in his head or face. And police said the black eyes likely occurred either when Sofield was forced to the floor inside the house or when he "stumbled and fell heavily on his right side" while being led from the house in handcuffs. Sofield's facial injuries are not as apparent in his mug shot, however. The black-and-white photo shows dark shading around parts of Sofield's eyes but no other indications of injury. Police have not determined the exact nature of Sofield's injuries, Det. Commander Tom King said. He said the University Police Department never gained access to Sofield's medical records, despite repeated requests to Phillips. But a nurse who saw Sofield at Mercy Hospital after his arrest said that the student didn't require medical attention, according to King. The nurse also said Sofield was too drunk to be properly examined when he arrived at the hospital, King said. "At the base of this whole incident is alcohol abuse -- the larger issue," Seamon said. He called for increased student involvement in finding a solution to the problem. The incident began the night of October 30, when Sofield, his brother Richard, 28, and Richard's friend Warnell "Yode" Owens, 26, were standing outside the FIJI house. The three intoxicated men were "boisterous [and] cursing" when an officer approached them, Seamon said. After the confrontation escalated and the officer told the three men they were under arrest for disorderly conduct, Owens and Bill Sofield -- at his brother's direction -- fled into the FIJI house, police officials said. Owens, a 6'2", 250-pound former Harvard University football player, allegedly left the FIJI house through a back door and assaulted four police officers in three incidents between the rear of the house and the corner of 36th and Walnut streets. A University Police officer tackled him from behind, leading to his arrest. One of the officers allegedly struck by Owens required facial surgery as a result of his injuries. FIJI President John Ward, who was in the house at the time of the arrest and later called for a full investigation, expressed "disappointment" with the probe's results. Both Ward and Phillips said they felt the objectivity of a such a police-led investigation is questionable. The University Police Department initiated the investigation as a result of concerns from Sofield's parents and student witnesses but without a formal complaint, Seamon said. King said he'd welcome a formal complaint and expressed confidence that an independent investigation would produce similar results. Sources close to the family have previously said no decision on filing a civil suit would be made until Sofield's criminal case is over. Seamon said he urged the District Attorney's office to consider the "mitigating circumstances" such as Sofield's young age, drunkenness and the fact that he never tried to injury police officers.
(12/05/97 10:00am)
Police will determine whether officers acted inappropriately. Despite delays in interviewing witnesses, the Division of Public Safety hopes to conclude its investigation into events surrounding the October 30 arrest of College freshman Bill Sofield next week, Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said. The investigation began after witnesses alleged that police beat Sofield while arresting him after a string of bloody assaults which injured four police officers near the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house. Sofield is not accused of any of the assaults. "We have wanted to make sure the investigation is totally, totally complete," Rush said, adding that Public Safety Managing Director Tom Seamon will review all the information and determine if there was any wrongdoing by officers and students. But because officers from several police forces were in the area at the time, it may turn out that no Penn officers were involved in any wrongdoing, even if the allegations prove to be correct. In examining a recently released Philadelphia Police photograph of Sofield, taken hours after his arrest, it is impossible to tell whether he suffered any facial injuries. The photo does not show any major bruises on the student's face, however, as numerous sources alleged. But because the photo is only of his head, it is also impossible to determine whether Sofield received the bruises on his "ribs, back, wrist and elbows" that Penn men's lacrosse coach Marc Van Arsdale described in a written statement. Sofield plays for Van Arsdale on the lacrosse team. Even those bruises may not prove that Sofield was beaten; he could have been bruised when police forced him to the floor of the house to handcuff him. The freshman was arrested inside the FIJI house on Locust Walk after police confronted him, his brother Richard and Richard's friend, Warnell "Yode" Owens. At the time, University Police said the three were drunk and arguing on Locust Walk. After an officer cited Richard Sofield, a 28-year-old assistant U.S. attorney, for disorderly conduct, Owens and Bill Sofield fled into the FIJI house. Owens allegedly exited the house through a rear door and attacked four police officers in three separate incidents, before being tackled to the ground and arrested at the intersection of 36th and Walnut streets. When the back of his head hit the ground in the scuffle, he was cut and bloodied, though his recently released mug shot does not show that injury. The four officers were sent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with various injuries, with one having to undergo facial surgery. Once Owens had been arrested, police from several forces entered the house to arrest Sofield. In statements sent to University officials, numerous FIJI brothers accused officers inside the house of beating Sofield without provocation. And although Sofield never made an official complaint against Penn or Philadelphia police officers, the University initiated an internal investigation into the incident, spending the last month interviewing students and police officers who were at the scene. The complications arose because of scheduling difficulties caused by students' exams and vacations, and the fact that detectives first had to determine which officers from which police forces were even at the scene. In the wake of the incident, one Penn officer who was inside the FIJI house said the brothers' accounts were "greatly exaggerated" and suggested they may be motivated by fears of losing their fraternity charter as a result of the incident. Sofield will appear at a court hearing next Monday for his charges. Owens, who was charged with four counts of aggravated assault, is scheduled for a December 19 hearing. Richard Sofield's disorderly conduct violation was settled after he attended a seminar on the subject.
(12/03/97 10:00am)
Detectives are "focusing on several individuals' in the November 17 shooting of James McCormack. University and Philadelphia police are continuing their search for the man who shot a College senior two weeks ago in an attempted carjacking on the 4200 block of Pine Street. Detectives are "focusing on several individuals" as possible suspects in the November 17 incident, during which College senior James McCormack was shot in the abdomen, University Police Det. Commander Tom King said. McCormack was immediately rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors decided not to operate to remove the bullet. But HUP doctors kept McCormack in the hospital until the end of the week for observation. The incident began at 9:35 p.m., when a 25-to-35-year-old bearded black man wearing a green army jacket with a hood approached McCormack while he was standing at the trunk of his silver Ford Taurus. Although details remain unclear as to exactly what happened next, police said the man demanded McCormack's car keys and then shot him with a silver revolver after he did not hand them over. Witnesses told police that the assailant then fled west on Pine Street, south on 43rd Street and west on Osage Avenue, officials said. Although University and Philadelphia police officers searched the area, they were unable to find a man matching the description provided by the witnesses. The police department increased the number of plainclothes officers in the area as a result of the shooting, and the expanded force will be deployed "at least until there is an arrest," according to King. In a telephone interview after his release from HUP, McCormack criticized the University for failing to keep the area safe and said handing over his keys probably wouldn't have made a difference. "I think he already decided he would shoot me," McCormack said. "He already was going for his gun when I put my hands up." Residents of the 4200 block of Pine said they feel safe and are pleased with the current police presence. And data obtained recently from University Police indicates that virtually all types of major crime -- including robberies, burglaries and thefts -- are down from last fall, when a campus crime wave prompted the expansion of security services.
(11/25/97 10:00am)
A University student and an 18-year-old visiting Penn were treated for alcohol-related illnesses in two separtae incidents. A Penn student and an 18-year-old visitor to the University were rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania early Sunday morning after suffering alcohol poisoning in two separate on-campus incidents. University Police transported a male student to HUP after he was found unconscious from alcohol poisoning outside of High Rise South at 12:48 a.m., according to police. Less than 15 minutes later, police and Philadelphia Fire Department personnel responded to a report that an 18-year-old visiting a friend in the Quadrangle had passed out after drinking too much alcohol. The visitor was rushed to HUP. No further information on the incidents was available from University Police or the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life. Prior to last weekend's incidents, the number of students sent to the hospital this semester from over-drinking was "in the double digits," according to Drug and Alcohol Resource Team advisor Kate Ward-Gaus. Ward-Gaus, a health educator, stressed that the number of students sent to HUP this fall for alcohol-related illnesses is not significantly different from last year. Binge drinking and alcohol-related violence gained University-wide attention earlier this fall after police responded to four bloody alcohol-related assaults in one night. At the time, University President Judith Rodin and other administrators called for a broad dialogue on binge drinking and related issues. Yesterday, Assistant Vice Provost for University Life Barbara Cassel said the University has been busy searching for solutions to student over-drinking. "The Alcohol Task Force has since met and with the vice provost developed a series of interventions involving programming and other activities," she said. Students from the task force and other University committees are "looking at untried areas of policy enforcement" as part of the continuing effort to deal with a problem that is affecting virtually every college in the United States, Cassel said. "It's going to take a concerted, ongoing effort, and the effort has to be multifaceted," she explained. "We have to involve students in any strategies to solve the problem." Meanwhile, Ward-Gaus' DART program is studying Penn students' drinking habits in the hope of developing better alcohol education programs. The group recently mailed surveys to students living on- and off-campus and has extended its deadline for responses to December 1 because of a mail problem affecting off-campus students. Ward-Gaus said the survey results should provide valuable insight into drug and alcohol use within many University demographic groups -- such as athletes and fraternity and sorority members -- and the campus as a whole. The findings are expected as early as February. "We can look at this and say what percentage of our students put themselves at risk for going to the hospital," Ward-Gaus said.
(11/21/97 10:00am)
The College senior disputed the police accounts of the attempted carjacking. The student who was shot in a failed off-campus carjacking criticized the University yesterday for failing to keep the area safe and sought to correct the "partially incorrect or totally incorrect" information that he said was being spread about Monday's incident. College senior James McCormack said he is "feeling pretty well" and is "sore but better" after being released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Wednesday night. McCormack was treated for a gunshot wound to the abdomen suffered during an attempted carjacking on the 4200 block of Pine Street Monday at 9:35 p.m. Monday. He refused to provide details of what happened before he was shot, but stressed that the information provided by police is not completely accurate. According to official University Police accounts of the incident, a man approached McCormack as he stood by the trunk of his silver grey Ford Taurus. The man then demanded his keys and, when McCormack did not hand them over, shot him in the abdomen. McCormack was immediately rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where doctors decided not to operate to remove the bullet, which is still lodged in his thigh. University Police -- who were unavailable for comment last night -- have said from the beginning that their information is preliminary, and that they are continuing to investigate the incident. And because University and Philadelphia detectives have been working on the case together, it was not immediately clear which officers interviewed McCormack before he left the hospital. Although police have said that McCormack refused to hand over his keys to the carjacker, the student stressed that "the idea that I resisted giving him anything is wrong." He added that he did refuse one of the robber's orders: to get into the Ford Taurus. "The only request that I denied the guy is that I was not going to get into my car," McCormack said. He declined to explain the circumstances under which the assailant -- who has not yet been arrested -- ordered him into the car, but he said he didn't think his actions would have stopped the robber from shooting him anyway. "I think he already decided he would shoot me," McCormack said. "He already was going for his gun when I put my hands up." McCormack also rejected the idea that he -- or any other student -- should automatically hand over their belongings to a robber or carjacker. "I don't think students should just give in," he said. "Or why not have a line of robbers come down here one after another?" This attitude differs sharply from statements by Penn and police officials urging students to give up whatever a robber wants and seek to protect themselves. Director of Special Services Susan Hawkins stressed that while second-guessing a victim's decisions is extremely harmful to the healing process, students should usually follow an assailant's orders. "If he tries to force you to another location, that is that time to take whatever action is necessary to avoid going with the assailant," she added in an e-mail to a Daily Pennsylvanian reporter. McCormack also criticized the University for failing to provide a safe on- and off-campus environment for students. When told that most major crimes significantly decreased from last fall to this year, he said, "It's like going from horrendous to worse. As usual, the University wants to gloss everything over." Unlike many residents of the neighborhood where he was shot, McCormack called for a greater police and Spectaguard presence and better lighting. In interviews following the shooting, a number of residents along the 4200 block of Pine Street credited the University with deploying police officers virtually every 10 minutes after dark. McCormack suggested that one possible solution would be for the University to purchase much of the property around campus and rent it to students as one part of a necessary effort to "help better the neighborhood." "The University just needs to take some steps to reduce the whole concept of crime occurring," he said.
(11/20/97 10:00am)
and Maureen Tkacik Most residents of the 4200 block of Pine Street heard the gunshot Monday night that wounded College senior James McCormack around 9:30 p.m. And for them, it was unsettling that the serene, well-kept block, which residents said was patrolled by police every 10 minutes after dark, could be the scene of a crime so early in the evening. But yesterday, none of the neighbors seemed to be panicking, with many saying that police and security patrols have been effective in reducing crime. And since the incident occurred, block residents have focused on providing each other with emotional support and maintaining the area's friendly atmosphere. "We said 'hi' before, but I know [my neighbors] better now, since Monday night," said a resident who asked to remain anonymous. The woman, who lives in the building McCormack was leaving when he was shot, added that the block "is really friendly [and] very neighborhoody." Most residents also said they believe the University has done "everything it can" to control crime. University employee Pauline Moslemi, who lives about a block away from the site of the shooting, said she feels comfortable "walking around after dark." "The University has taken the correct step insofar as police presence, especially with these rent-a-cops that stroll around," Moslemi said, referring to the Spectaguard security guards who patrol the area up to 43rd Street. But Moslemi stressed that the University should invest more time and energy in improving the surrounding community in order to reduce crime further. And despite the University's recent security improvements over the past year -- which include additional lighting and guards -- many residents said they still take steps to ensure their personal safety. "I always take the shuttle, and there is always someone here to walk me to my door," said Nicole Walker, a first-year Medical student. Many residents of the block, which is largely populated by permanent residents and graduate students, said they enjoy living in their "friendly" University City neighborhood, pointing to the large number of owner-occupied houses and the "nice flow of people" walking at night. And many described Monday's shooting -- which wasn't fatal -- as a fact of life. "I know I should be scared, but I'm not," 13-year-old Leigh Senderowicz said. "I feel safe. On this block, [shootings] are as rare as they are in the suburbs." Leigh's father, Alee, added that he doesn't "feel unsafe, but I'm more cautious than I was 15 years ago." Although the elder Senderowicz regularly sees University Police officers in the area, he said he doesn't "know how much a police force can do about the problems we have here." His wife, Joan Weiner, said she believes University-sponsored initiatives, such as shuttle buses for students and staff, perpetuate what she described as "abandonment of the streets" -- decreasing foot traffic and safety at night.
(11/20/97 10:00am)
While robberies, burglaries and thefts dropped from last fall, aggravated assaults increased during the same time span. Despite the recent shooting that sent a College senior to the hospital, the number of serious crimes on and around campus is significantly lower this fall than it was during the same time last year. University Police responded to fewer robberies, burglaries and thefts this fall, although the number of assaults increased. The data -- provided by University Police -- include crimes and attempted crimes reported in 1996 and 1997 between September 1 and November 15, in the area bounded by Market Street, Baltimore Avenue, the Schuylkill River and 43rd Street. On- and off-campus robberies within the department's jurisdiction fell 26 percent, from 53 to 39. While 34 of the robberies in 1996 involved a gun, only 22 of this year's robbers were armed -- a drop of 35 percent. Total on-campus robberies dropped from seven last fall to six this year, while on-campus robberies at gunpoint fell 50 percent, from six to three. Additionally, burglaries fell 9 percent, from 45 to 41, while thefts dropped 2 percent, from 461 to 454. And on-campus burglaries decreased 33 percent, from 33 to 22 incidents. Thefts on campus fell 5 percent, from 308 to 294. University Police officials touted sweeping changes to the force since last fall's crime wave -- which culminated in the shooting of then-College senior Patrick Leroy near 40th and Locust streets -- as the impetus behind the crime decrease. The Division of Public Safety added 19 new officers to the force, doubled the size of its bike patrol unit from eight to 16 officers, doubled the number of detectives in its investigative unit from four to eight and developed a Special Response Team to combat crime at night. And since the beginning of this semester alone, the department has spent almost $130,000 on overtime pay for the five additional officers who patrol each night. Public Safety's annual budget is about $18 million. Det. Commander Tom King, who joined the force last August, said he was impressed with these "textbook"-like changes. And Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush noted that the lower crime rate is important because it has led to an "increase in the feeling of safety" among students. Despite the decrease in most types of crimes, assaults rose 10 percent. Aggravated assault cases -- the most serious type of assault -- more than doubled, rising from seven last fall to 16 this year. And the number of these incidents on campus rose from two to five. Police officials blamed the jump on violence caused by student binge drinking, defined as consuming five consecutive drinks for men and four in a row for women. Just one aggravated assault in 1996 -- equal to 14 percent of the total -- was alcohol-related, compared with a total of four, or 25 percent, of the 1997 aggravated assaults. "The statistical increase is from within our own community," Rush said. "From the University president's level on down, we are vividly aware of the fact that we have a binge drinking problem on campus." Alcohol does not, however, explain the total increase. Even when alcohol-related incidents are excluded, the number of aggravated assaults doubled to 12. At the same time, police responded to 26 percent fewer simple assault cases in the area as a whole and 43 percent fewer of these incidents on campus. And four of this year's 17 simple assaults, or 24 percent, were alcohol-related. Only one of the 23 simple assaults in 1996 involved drinking. Non-alcohol-related assaults fell 10 percent.
(11/20/97 10:00am)
Police say one suspect may have committed other recent area crimes. Police are examining the possibility that the man who shot College senior James McCormack during a failed carjacking Monday night is also responsible for numerous recent robberies in the area. While University and Philadelphia police continue their search for the assailant, University Police Det. Commander Tom King refused to provide further information about the possible suspect, explaining that additional details may jeopardize the investigation. "We are very close to bringing this to a successful close," King said. The man who shot McCormack on the 4200 block of Pine Street may be the same person sought by Philadelphia Police detectives in connection with a string of recent robberies, he said. "One promising avenue is a suspect that [Philadelphia police] have in mind for several robberies, including one a few days ago in the same general area," King said. He added that the University Police Department is "aggressively maintaining the level of patrol and pursuing several positive leads" in the shooting. A source close to the investigation said an arrest is imminent would probably occur "by the end of the week." Police described the assailant as a 25-to-35-year-old black man wearing a green army jacket with a hood at the time of the shooting. The man appears "dirty looking" and has a "scruffy beard," mustache and yellow-looking eyes, police said. The incident began at about 9:30 p.m. Monday, when a man approached McCormack -- who was standing at the rear of his silver Ford Taurus -- and demanded his car keys, according to police. It is unclear exactly what happened next. Police said the assailant shot McCormack in the abdomen with a short-barreled silver revolver when he did not turn over the keys. The assailant then fled west on Pine Street, south on 43rd Street and finally west on Osage Avenue, witnesses told police. Witnesses then lost track of him, police said. Neighbors recalled hearing a bullet, followed immediately by loud screams. First-year Medical student Nicole Walker said she ran upstairs to call the police but heard sirens before she even got to the telephone. The bullet entered McCormack slightly above his beltline and was deflected into his thigh, according to police. He was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania immediately after the incident, where doctors decided not to perform surgery. McCormack was released from HUP yesterday at about 7:30 p.m. He will spend the next few days recovering before possibly returning to classes sometime next week.
(11/19/97 10:00am)
College senior James McCormack was shot in the abdomen during an attempted carjecking Monday. While College senior James McCormack may be released today from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to the abdomen, University and Philadelphia police are still searching the area for the man who shot him in an attempted carjacking last night. Police said they have not yet identified a suspect in the incident, but are searching for a 25-to-35-year-old black man seen at the scene. Witnesses described the man as about 5'8", "very dirty," with a beard and moustache and wearing a green army jacket with a grey hood. Immediately after the incident, McCormack was taken to HUP, where he was met by his family and girlfriend, a first-year graduate student. Although doctors did not operate to remove the bullet from his thigh, the senior was "very tired" and in "a lot of pain," according to police officials. McCormack may be released as early as today, but doctors have instructed him to stay home and rest for the remainder of the week, according to University President Judith Rodin, who visited him at HUP early yesterday morning. "He's expected to make a complete recovery," Rodin said. McCormack was shot around 9:30 p.m. Monday as he was leaving a friend's house on the 4200 block of Pine Street. As he stood at the trunk of his Ford Taurus, a man walked up and demanded his keys. When McCormack refused, the man shot him in the abdomen and fled the scene. McCormack is still trying to remember details about the shooting, so it is unclear whether the man pulled the gun before asking for the keys or after McCormack refused to hand them over, Director of Police Operations Maureen Rush said. The assailant fled west on Pine Street, south on 43rd Street, then west on Osage Avenue before witnesses lost track of him. "The one thing we're really gearing up to do right now is catch this guy," Rush said, explaining that more plainclothes officers will patrol the area until the assailant is arrested. She emphasized that there is already a substantial police presence on campus, as well as in the area where the incident occurred. "One of our Special Response Teams was a half-block away," she said. "The place was crawling with the normal patrols." Rush explained that even with the current "robust and full" levels of police protection, criminals may nevertheless find an opportunity to do harm. "People look around, they see something, they take advantage of that split-second opportunity," she said. University and Philadelphia police officials emphasized that student victims should accommodate to robbers' demands in the interest of their own safety. "There's nothing that you have on you that's worth getting hurt over," Penn Police Det. Commander Tom King said, but stressed that he "certainly doesn't blame the victim." Rodin added that "there's a behavioral lesson" in the incident: students should always "give it up" in a robbery. "You can always recover property," she said. Although this shooting was "frightening," Rodin emphasized that it comes at a time when crime is relatively low and should not make students afraid to go outside. "We are, we've been, we will continue to work to make this campus safer and safer," she said. Rodin also noted that the "long-term answer continues to be working to strengthen West Philadelphia." Citing partnerships like the UC Brite lighting initiative and the recently created University City District, she said the University has been active in improving the neighborhood through economic development, housing rehabilitation and fear reduction initiatives In fact, crime has decreased significantly when compared with the same period last year. Robberies, burglaries, simple assaults and thefts are all down sharply. Still, Rodin said crime in a city cannot be completely eliminated. "What we're doing is bringing the number down," she said. "None of us should ever imagine that it should ever entirely reach zero."
(11/18/97 10:00am)
The student was shot in the abdomen in the incident on the 4200 block of Pine Street, but didn't suffer major injuries. A University senior was shot and wounded last night on the 4200 block of Pine Street during an attempted carjacking, police said. As of early this morning, the student remained hospitalized in stable condition. Although doctors at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania said the student's wounds did not require surgery, they admitted him overnight for observation, according to police. The student was shot in the abdomen during the incident, and the bullet then "reflected down and went into the most fleshy part of his thigh," University Police Det. Cmdr. Tom King said. The incident began around 9:30 p.m. when the senior -- whose name has not yet been released by police -- was approached by a man, while standing at the open trunk of his grey Ford Taurus in front of 4211 Pine Street. The man walked up to the student and ordered him to hand over his car keys, police said. When he refused, the man pulled out a short-barreled silver revolver and shot him. Witnesses told police that the man fled west on Pine Street, then south on 43rd Street and finally west on Osage Avenue. "At that point, witnesses lost sight of him," Managing Director of Public Safety Tom Seamon said. Police and University officials stressed that Penn and Philadelphia police officers are searching for the assailant, who witnesses described as an approximately 5'8" black man in his early 20s with some facial hair and an "unkempt appearance." When last seen, he was wearing a dark green jacket with a hood, dark pants and a black wool hat. "University Police and Philadelphia Police have a massive effort right now to find the perpetrator," University spokesperson Ken Wildes said. Last night's incident was the first shooting near campus since September 6, when Mark Caron of Frasier, Pa., was shot in the shoulder during a robbery at 41st and Sansom streets. Caron's girlfriend immediately drove him to HUP, where doctors said his injuries were not serious and released him within a few hours. Despite the two shootings and the 10 to 15 robberies at gunpoint so far this semester, this fall has been much calmer than the same period last year, when dozens of armed robberies culminated in the shooting of College senior Patrick Leroy and the stabbing death of University researcher Vladimir Sled. For example, while University Police responded to seven robberies at gunpoint in the first three weeks of school this year, there were 14 such incidents during the same time last fall. Last fall's crime wave prompted widespread student and parent outrage. Shortly afterwards, the University increased the size of its police force and boosted Spectaguard patrols. Since then, University City District safety ambassadors have also taken to the streets. Wildes called last night's incident extremely unfortunate, and contrasted it with this fall's relatively low campus crime rate. "We've gone to great lengths -- we're going to continue to go to great lengths -- to ensure the safety of our faculty and students and others," he said.
(11/17/97 10:00am)
A College freshman told police he was forced into a car and ordered to withdraw $80 from several local MAC machines. A College freshman claimed he was forced into a car and robbed of $80 early Sunday morning after two assailants drove him to three local MAC machines and forced him to withdraw money from his account. The student was unable to provide police with more than a "vague" account of what happened, and police are looking at the incident as an "investigation of robbery/kidnapping," rather than as a "robbery/kidnapping," University Police Det. Cmdr. Tom King said. The student told police he was leaving a friend's off-campus house early Sunday morning when a car with two men in it approached him near the intersection of 41st and Spruce streets. A man -- who did not have a gun or other weapon -- got out of the sedan and ordered the student into the car, King said. The men then drove the student to three area MAC machines within about 15 minutes. The student told police he did not take any money out of the first machine because he could not remember his personal identification number (PIN), but withdrew $40 from each of the other two machines. The men took the $80 in cash, the student's wallet and his PennCard before letting him out of the car near 52nd and Market streets. The freshman then found a taxi and returned to the Quadrangle shortly before 5 a.m. Because his wallet was stolen, the student asked the taxi driver to wait while he went to his dorm and borrowed money from a friend. The student then approached a University Police officer outside the Quad and told him he had been robbed. Police are closely scrutinizing the student's account in the hope of determining exactly what happened. "Because of the fact that details are so vague and the complainant was having a difficult time recalling any of the specifics of the incident, the entire course of events is under investigation," King explained, noting that "the complainant is unsure of locations, times and other specific details." Police are searching for MAC receipts and witnesses in the hope of identifying from which MAC machines the student was forced to withdraw money, as well as the identities of the assailants, King said. In unrelated incidents this weekend, two students were injured in early-morning assaults. The first incident occurred Saturday at 4 a.m., when eight students punched a student in the face near the intersection of 40th and Spruce streets, possibly breaking his nose, according to University Police Sgt. Tom Rambo. Almost 24 hours later, two male students got into a fight on the 3700 block of Spruce Street, with one striking the other in the face during the attack. The student was later taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for examination. No further information was available on either event, which remain under investigation. Police have not made any arrests.
(11/14/97 10:00am)
One of the men cited for disorderly conduct in the October 30 confrontation outside the Phi Gamma Delta house that led to a string of bloody assaults will attend a lecture on "disorderly conduct" this weekend instead of having to face criminal charges. Richard Sofield, 28, will travel to Philadelphia tomorrow from his home in Virginia and spend two hours at a "Disorderly Conduct Alternative Program" in the Center City Conference Center, according to his wife, Alice. After completing the program, the disorderly conduct charge will be expunged from his criminal record, and he won't have to appear at a previously scheduled November 21 hearing before a municipal court judge. Although Sofield refused to comment, on the advice of his attorney, his wife said the lecture is normal for "anybody who has no [previous criminal] record and it's just a disorderly conduct or you violate some kind of curfew. It's a standard thing." The lecture's purpose is to teach people cited for disorderly conduct about the law to prevent them from doing it again, according to Patrick O'Neill, director of the Philadelphia Service Institute, which runs the program. "An attorney teaches the act -- the law [suspects are] accused of breaking -- and gives pointers on how to avoid this sort of situation, explains the dangers of having an arrest record and gives some pointers on how to deal with police in emergency situations to avoid this sort of thing in the future," he explained. Sofield -- an assistant U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. -- was arrested by University Police in front of the FIJI house on Locust Walk October 30 at around 10:30 p.m., while standing with his friend Warnell "Yode" Owens and brother, College freshman Bill Sofield. According to police accounts, officers approached the three men because they appeared drunk and were loud and rowdy. The confrontation quickly "escalated verbally until there was a lot of yelling and screaming," University Police Detective Commander Tom King explained a few days after the incident. Police cited Richard Sofield at the scene for disorderly conduct, but Owens and Bill Sofield fled inside the FIJI house. Owens, a 26-year-old Harvard University alumnus and former college football player, left the FIJI house through a back door and allegedly assaulted four Penn police officers in three separate incidents before being subdued by police at the intersection of 36th and Walnut streets. Bill Sofield stayed inside the FIJI house until more than 20 officers from at least four police forces arrested him. Accounts differ as to what happened next. While police said Sofield had to be subdued by several officers after resisting arrest, numerous FIJI brothers claim the officers beat the freshman before arresting him. Owens and Bill Sofield still face charges as a result of the incident, which remains under investigation by the Philadelphia and University police departments.
